Tigers To Visit Seneca Valley In Regular Season Finale
The North Allegheny Tigers (8-1, 2-1) conclude the regular season and conference schedule tonight with a visit to Seneca Valley to take on the rival Raiders (3-6, 0-3).
Since their only loss of the year to Central Catholic on Sept. 22, the Tigers have won four in a row and are coming off a 48-14 non-conference victory last week at Penn-Trafford. The NA defense forced four turnovers, including an 84-yard pick six by senior linebacker Tyree Alualu. On offense, Alualu rushed for 182 yards and two touchdowns to key the blowout.
Seneca Valley, meanwhile, began the season with a five-game losing streak but have vastly improved in recent weeks. The Raiders followed their losing skid with a three-game winning streak with one-sided victories over Butler, North Hills and Hempfield. The winning streak was snapped last week by Central Catholic in a 42-7 loss. However, the Raiders hung tough with the vaunted Vikings and trailed by just one touchdown, 14-7, at the half.
The Raiders recent success has coincided with a lineup that is getting healthier as the season has wore on. The top offensive threat for SV is senior running back Kai West. According to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette stats, West leads the Raiders in rushing with 587 yards and is the team leader in receiving yards as well with 202 yards. He has scored eight total touchdowns. Senior quarterback Sean O’Shea is an experienced signal caller and a dual-threat quarterback.
Senior two-way lineman Roman Royal is a 6-6, 295 pound force at the line of scrimmage, and West is a two-way player as well and a hard-hitting safety on defense. Junior cornerback Jaden Price is getting some Division I looks in the defensive backfield.
North Allegheny has won five of the last seven meetings with Seneca Valley, including a thrilling 27-26 come-from-behind victory last season at Newman Stadium. Down 26-14 at the half, the Tigers rallied for 13 unanswered points in a 27-26 triumph that propelled the Tigers to the No. 1 seed and eliminated the Raiders from postseason contention.
There won’t be as much drama for tonight’s contest as NA is locked into the No. 2 seed and SV has already been knocked out of playoff contention. Nonetheless, this rivalry game always seems to bring out the best in both teams and more of the same is to be expected tonight as North Allegheny wants to stay sharp entering the playoffs.
Kickoff for tonight’s game is set for 7:00 p.m. from NexTier Stadium. As always, the game will be broadcast live by the North Allegheny Sports Network with the pregame show set for 6:40 p.m. To listen to tonight’s broadcast, click here.
